The present invention is generally related to an input device which enables the control of one or more devices with which a vehicle is equipped in a secure and comfortable way for the driver of the vehicle.
Today vehicles, especially cars and trucks, are more and more equipped with electrical components like car radios, telephones, navigation systems and others. Each of these pieces of car equipment have their own input devices. Besides the control of these pieces of car equipment a lot of devices of the car can be controlled by the driver with other keys, buttons and levers for example electrically controlled back mirrors, windscreen wipers, electrical controllable seat positions and others.
Drivers today have difficulty in finding and using the different pieces of car equipment because of this wide variety of different input and control devices. It is a difficult task for the driver to know all keys and buttons of the equipment and to select the functions of these pieces of equipment. Sometimes drivers get into dangerous traffic situations because they have to concentrate more on operating a huge number of keys and buttons than concentrating on the traffic situation.
The DE patent application DE 3842414 discloses a device for vehicles which integrates the control of a variety of electrical equipment installed in the motor vehicle which the driver may want to activate. This device comprises a visual display monitor which is connected not only to the engine and vehicle instrumentation but also with this variety of aforementioned electrical equipment. The picture screen of the monitor is subdivided into several regions and all the functions that would otherwise be performed by individual buttons, knobs and switches can be performed by a ball control for directing a cursor on the screen of the monitor which can be located on the steering wheel. While a particular piece of equipment selected is being controlled, the corresponding field of the monitor selected by the cursor has its light to dark contrast reversed, to indicate that the corresponding equipment is in the process of being adjusted.
A roller ball, which is integrated into the steering wheel of the car, is near to the hand of the driver but this solution has the disadvantage that the driver, who wants to operate the equipment of the vehicle, has to remove his hand or at least his fingers partly from the hand grip of the steering wheel to reach the ball control.
Furthermore the driver has to rotate the steering wheel to an upward position together with the roller ball input device when the vehicle is for example in a parking position to operate the ball control in a comfortable way. Bringing the steering wheel to an upward position is a rather difficult task when the vehicle is in a parking position, furthermore maybe the steering wheel lock has to be opened before the steering wheel can be turned to the upward position. Anyhow the parking position is as a rule the best position to control devices of the car because the driver does not have to concentrate on the traffic situation.